Should the owner be a fan of the club?

[IslandExile]

I wrote the best post I have ever written but it was lost as threads were merged.

I'll try to recall most of it here....

I have serious misgivings about this takeover.

I blame (Sky) money for the ending/demise of the people's game. However, the fact is that you now need money if you are going to compete in the top tiers of British and European football.

However, I kinda like having Mel as the owner. I know there are arguments for and against having a fan as owner of the club (for example, it worked both ways in the case of Lionel Pickering) but at least a fan knows - and respects - the history of the club.

This is nothing personal against Sheikh Khaled Zayed Bin Saquer Zayed Al Nayhan. I would say it about any external owner who has not grown up with the club.

I remember the Three Amigos for one thing.

But the one that keeps me awake at night is Captain Bob. We were all thrilled when he took over and splashed the cash - happy days under Arthur. But it all went belly up when the funding was cast adrift. The club nearly sank. OK, sorry for the puns all in bad taste.

Seriously, Derby County very nearly went out of existence. We do not want a repeat of that.

Anyhow, welcome Sheikh - I hope your time with the Rams is extremely successful. COYR ?

[ramsbottom]

I wouldn’t say it’s a priority, especially in this day & age. Mel has made mistakes, Lionel made some too. GSE did, I’ve never classed them as bad owners. 
 

As I’ve said on another thread, I’m a little apprehensive about the new owner, but after reading about Wigan, Macclesfield, Bury, Gillet & Hicks at Liverpool, our friend Fawaz up the road etc I think most people are apprehensive about ANY new owner. Just because if one is the fan of the club, doesn’t mean they won’t be useless... 

[Tombo]

I've only got one question I need a satisfactory answer to - "Why Derby??"

When Sheikh Mansour bought Man City, he was buying a club in a major city with room to grow. A large stadium, and a large fanbase and a club that had potential to be a world class club. And they succeeded.

So why Derby? Potential to get promoted and double his money? Yeah maybe, but good luck with that. We've been trying for 13 years. You can't buy your way out of this league because of FFP. And we've tried, believe us.

Mel suffers the same problems as an owner but I get "Why Derby" for him. Its obvious - he's local, he's a fan and he loves being the custodian of this club. It's job satisfaction.

So again, to the new owners.....Why Derby??

[Vienna]

Derby = Wolves; similar size, similar fan base, similar history, similar appeal to investors - more meaningful comparison. Not the say the same success will be achieved however.

[TomTom92]

1 minute ago, Tombo said:

I've only got one question I need a satisfactory answer to - "Why Derby??"

When Sheikh Mansour bought Man City, he was buying a club in a major city with room to grow. A large stadium, and a large fanbase and a club that had potential to be a world class club. And they succeeded.

So why Derby? Potential to get promoted and double his money? Yeah maybe, but good luck with that. We've been trying for 13 years. You can't buy your way out of this league because of FFP. And we've tried, believe us.

Mel suffers the same problems as an owner but I get "Why Derby" for him. Its obvious - he's local, he's a fan and he loves being the custodian of this club. It's job satisfaction.

So again, to the new owners.....Why Derby??

They apparently went in for Liverpool and Newcastle before us with the geordies ticking the room to grow box. I guess they may have looked at us as a good bet for promotion with our recent record of the play offs. Ironically they’ll be taking us over at our worst time in the last decade.

I must admit it’s rather frustrating that they’ll come in and have to fire fight a relegation battle with 3/4ers of this season left. Although maybe that’ll give them time to get a plan of action in place for next season. 

[Tyler Durden]

4 minutes ago, Tombo said:

I've only got one question I need a satisfactory answer to - "Why Derby??"

When Sheikh Mansour bought Man City, he was buying a club in a major city with room to grow. A large stadium, and a large fanbase and a club that had potential to be a world class club. And they succeeded.

So why Derby? Potential to get promoted and double his money? Yeah maybe, but good luck with that. We've been trying for 13 years. You can't buy your way out of this league because of FFP. And we've tried, believe us.

Mel suffers the same problems as an owner but I get "Why Derby" for him. Its obvious - he's local, he's a fan and he loves being the custodian of this club. It's job satisfaction.

So again, to the new owners.....Why Derby??

Stupid question I genuinely don't know will the new owners also own the football ground or will Morris still keep hold of that. Or hasn't that been agreed or communicated yet.

[The_Sheriff]

I wouldn't say it's a priority but it helps- you know if he is a fan he is far more likely to have the clubs best interests at heart and is not worried about burning holes in pocket.

I suppose it comes down to why a 'non fan' wants the club- it could be like Man City who's owners are interested in just building a successful team because they have more cash then they know what to do with- on the other side you may have owners that their intentions are to just make money from the club- 3 amigos etc

 

[ramboy63]

No not at all,to most of these Billionaires its who has the biggest willy some do stand the test of time like Abramovich at Chelsea 

 

 

[Tyler Durden]

12 minutes ago, Tombo said:

I've only got one question I need a satisfactory answer to - "Why Derby??"

When Sheikh Mansour bought Man City, he was buying a club in a major city with room to grow. A large stadium, and a large fanbase and a club that had potential to be a world class club. And they succeeded.

So why Derby? Potential to get promoted and double his money? Yeah maybe, but good luck with that. We've been trying for 13 years. You can't buy your way out of this league because of FFP. And we've tried, believe us.

Mel suffers the same problems as an owner but I get "Why Derby" for him. Its obvious - he's local, he's a fan and he loves being the custodian of this club. It's job satisfaction.

So again, to the new owners.....Why Derby??

Totally concur with you. Large stadium that we're not allowed to fill due to the governments rules. Have been the bridesmaids for the past upteem years and apart from one season never seriously challenged the Top 2 spots despite throwing money left right and centre at it. Not even going to trouble the top half this season never mind Top 6. 

What do they see that I can't. 

[Jourdan]

My question would be: Why not Derby?

The potential is there if you get key people in the right places making good decisions. Look at Leicester, Wolves, Brighton, Burnley, Sheff Utd, Leeds who have all passed us by.

I think any owner - local, fan, or otherwise - will stand or fall by their decisions and their overall impact on the club. I don’t think where they are from or what they wear or how they come across in interviews or how much love for the club they have ever becomes a factor.

With Sheikh Khaled, it’s a step into the unknown. But it’s been the same for every owner we have ever had. I think we’ll only know how wise this deal is with the fullness of time.

Look at how the Thai ownership group have transformed Leicester in the space of 6-7 years and look at how the Chinese ownership group have also taken Wolves levels above where we are in just 2-3 years. There is evidence out there that it can work so I am not as apprehensive about foreign ownership as many others may be.

Despite significantly improving the facilities and the Academy set up, Mel - for all his good intentions and big visions - leaves us with the club still in the Championship with a weaker squad, a manager who could be days or weeks away from being sacked, and in a more vulnerable position in the league table.

So, no, the owner doesn’t have to be local nor a fan, but they do have to have good intentions and the means and the acumen to see them through to completion.

I think this season is a free hit now. Avoiding relegation being the primary objective and putting smiles back on the faces of the players, fans and staff of the club an equally important goal. 

We have to judge the owner and any incoming manager or players from summer 2021 and beyond. Let’s see where we are two to three years from now and then decide if Sheikh Khaled was a good call or not.

[Wolfie20]

In the first instance not necessarily but give them time, they'll be suckered into the fold just as we were.

[Mucker1884]

1 hour ago, IslandExile said:

I wrote the best post I have ever written but it was lost as threads were merged.

I'll try to recall most of it here....

I have serious misgivings about this takeover.

I blame (Sky) money for the ending/demise of the people's game. However, the fact is that you now need money if you are going to compete in the top tiers of British and European football.

However, I kinda like having Mel as the owner. I know there are arguments for and against having a fan as owner of the club (for example, it worked both ways in the case of Lionel Pickering) but at least a fan knows - and respects - the history of the club.

This is nothing personal against Sheikh Khaled Zayed Bin Saquer Zayed Al Nayhan. I would say it about any external owner who has not grown up with the club.

I remember the Three Amigos for one thing.

But the one that keeps me awake at night is Captain Bob. We were all thrilled when he took over and splashed the cash - happy days under Arthur. But it all went belly up when the funding was cast adrift. The club nearly sank. OK, sorry for the puns all in bad taste.

Seriously, Derby County very nearly went out of existence. We do not want a repeat of that.

Anyhow, welcome Sheikh - I hope your time with the Rams is extremely successful. COYR ?

I'm sorry, but I'm not having that.

 

... There is absolutely no need to apologise.  They were top class puns, and fully merited.

Apology refused.  

[RadioactiveWaste]

What I think all fans really want is that the owner is a sinceer and trustworthy custodian of the club. That's not the same as being a fan, but it's something that could be true of a fan owner or a detatched owner.

[lagavulinram]

Maybe with more money, we would be able to keep that talent coming through the acadamy.

[CornwallRam]

In previous years, Derby County was limited by being in a large town/small city. There are only so many local fans available, so crowds, merchandise and hospitality were all limited. Even though we were briefly better than Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool, we could never hope to be bigger.

I think that has changed now.

The city is growing rapidly. A really good team would also attract support from the 'borderlands' - Ilkeston, Chesterfield, Shepshed, Uttoxeter etc. We've got a good potential catchment. We saw last time we were a Premier League club, we could have made use of a 40,000 seater stadium. I suspect if we were viably going for Champion's League football, we wouldn't be lost with 60,000 seats. OK, there'll still be bigger grounds, but at least we'd be at the top table.

Most importantly though, TV is king these days. It doesn't really matter if you play in front of 20k or 100k. It's how much the TV companies are willing to give you. That's all about your fame and the quality of your playing squad. If we signed 10 world class players we'd be famous and competitive on the world stage. It wouldn't matter that we're from the third biggest city in the East Midlands.

I don't mean to imply that we're something special as club - well we are obviously, but I don't mean that we have greater growth potential than many other clubs of a similar size. All it takes is promotion to the Premier League and then a huge dollop of cash spent. Once a club reaches that level, its income goes through the roof and should actually be self sustaining. That's why I think we are a good investment for a hugely wealthy person or group. As long as FFP can be circumnavigated it's a relatively straightforward model. 

The problem is that we are a spectacularly bad investment for anyone unable to put squillions in - and I'm worried that these new owners fall into that category. We'll burn through £30m a year and still only be an also ran unless we get a lucky season. Mel has been burned and he loves us. I dread to think what an owner who was only after a profit world do once they regarded the club as a money pit.

[ram1964]

Why buy wolves,the fox 's ??

As a club considering stadium,training facilities and fan base we appear to be very good value at £60-80 million.

Most owners have no affiliation to the club before buying, it's usually a status symbol / financial asset. The new owner probably wouldn't even understand the offside rule?.Let's just hope he doesn't want to play second fiddle to his cousin in Manchester and choses to seriously invest in a relatively cheap aqasistion according to his families estimated wealth.

The deals going through, not much anyone can do about it now. Like it or lump it time will tell. But am sure if he is successful no one will be criticising him for not being a fan, being from the middle East or much else.COYR.

[Alty_Ram]

I share some trepidation about unknown new owners but there are many examples of clubs that are well run by people with no connection with a club or city and plenty of stories of local ownership ending badly. I think what that tells us is to just judge this takeover on merit as it happens.

There is nothing we can do about it at this stage anyway whether we wanted to or not. I'm not going to assume the worst but I am certainly not jumping for joy either because there are so many unanswered questions at this stage like how much will/can be invested and how much is just loans etc. We simply don't know right now so there is no real right or wrong answer really.

[BBG83]

6 minutes ago, ram1964 said:

Why buy wolves,the fox 's ??

As a club considering stadium,training facilities and fan base we appear to be very good value at £60-80 million.

Most owners have no affiliation to the club before buying, it's usually a status symbol / financial asset. The new owner probably wouldn't even understand the offside rule?.Let's just hope he doesn't want to play second fiddle to his cousin in Manchester and choses to seriously invest in a relatively cheap aqasistion according to his families estimated wealth.

The deals going through, not much anyone can do about it now. Like it or lump it time will tell. But am sure if he is successful no one will be criticising him for not being a fan, being from the middle East or much else.COYR.

Doesn't feel like long ago since we smashed five past Wolves at home. You'd never have imagined them going anywhere. But here we are with Wolves an established Prem team off the back of a strong run in Europe. Things can change in the blink of an eye.

[neil62uk]

Maxwell wasn't 

Pearson wasn't 

Longson  WAS 

PICKERING WAS 

MORRIS IS OR WAS 

and a few whom aren't  worth mentioning ...  typeing  Maxwell sent me bilous  FAT B - - T - - D HIM 

[Rammeister]

I’ve heard the sheikh IS actually a Derby fan. Started following them when Paul Jewell took over.